The youth was so struck by the cruel reality that he couldn’t speak.
No more rooms appeared ahead, but the corridor was gradually narrowing; what had been a normal passage could now only accommodate two people walking side by side, squeezed together.
The formation changed, with Lu Li naturally walking in front, and the youth falling behind.
As they progressed, the corridor continued to narrow until only one person could pass through.
The youth vaguely felt that something was wrong and called out to Lu Li, placing his palms on the walls covered in graffiti.
Seconds later, his face turned ashen: “The walls are closing in!”
“It’s just a trick of the Ghost House, meant to fool people; they can’t really close in.”
Lu Li, who had not been drawn into the narrative of the Ghost House at all, replied.
He was the sort who, when others were getting into a horror movie, would comment on the side that it was all make-believe, pointing out that the ghosts and victims were just actors pretending—
The youth forced a smile, attempting to say something, but suddenly turned his head to look back the way they had come.
His face twisted with fright at what he saw.
At some unknown point, blood had begun to slap against the walls, surging towards them hungrily.
Run for it!” the youth screamed.
Lu Li glanced at the youth, who was consumed by terror, and observed the oncoming blood with a calm curiosity.
A hallucination perhaps?
Neither the slowly constricting walls nor the overturning blood behind them seemed real.
Although the illusion was somewhat juvenile, it appeared there was at least one somewhat useful ghost present.
The youth’s path was blocked by Lu Li.
In order to avoid being seen as a liability, Lu Li had no choice but to continue hurrying forward.
Fifty meters later, the surroundings opened up suddenly.
The youth, as if drained, gasped for air, still terrified, and looked back at where the blood had vanished without a trace, trembling, “What on earth is going on, aren’t we in the Ghost House?
Why are there such horrifying things…
He suddenly noticed the sameness all around.
This was a courtyard, created to mimic the outside world.
Dim, yellow lighting imitating sunlight poured in from above.
The walls were adorned with paintings of fences and withered trees, as well as distant forests.
Lu Li found another exit beside the one they had come through, possibly the exit for players who had chosen the left path.
The courtyard was simply decorated: a backyard covered in fallen leaves and twigs and an ancient well, damp and decrepit.
This scene was enough to evoke fear in most people.
“This is…” the youth’s lips trembled.
“The last hiding spot for the note.”
Lu Li stepped on the silent, rotting leaves and approached the dry well, peering down into it.
A pale figure, snake-like, climbed nimbly up the slick walls of the well, rapidly nearing the surface.
Lu Li had seen it twice before—this woman in the white dress was haunting various places and certainly seemed to be working hard.
It creepily neared the top of the well.
Through its disheveled black hair, a bloated white face emerged, grinning maliciously as it lunged at Lu Li standing above the well!
As it drew closer, Lu Li suddenly asked: “Where’s the note?”
The ghost in the white dress, caught off guard by the question, instinctively paused.
But it forgot it was clinging to the damp well walls, and with the pause, it began to slip downward.
It quickly raised its hands, gripping the edge of the well with difficulty to hang on.
“Help, help me—” the ghost in the white dress looked up, pleading for help from Lu Li above.
“Where’s the note?” Lu Li repeated in the same tone.
“I’m a staff member, not a ghost.
“If you don’t save me, you’re harming people!”
Lu Li did not repeat himself but responded: “I suppose not saving a ghost should not be considered illegal.”
The lady ghost in the white dress clenched her teeth and decided to muster her strength to climb up.
Lu Li wouldn’t let her get her way, picked up a broken stick from the ground, and jabbed downwards like fencing.
Wait a minute, wait a sec, I’ll give it to you, let me get up first!” Unable to dodge, the ghost in the white dress was poked repeatedly and had no choice but to shout loudly.
Lu Li temporarily stopped and took a few steps back, silently watching the lady ghost climb ashore.
After some hesitation, she still took out a piece of paper from her hair.
“This is a cursed note, whoever picks it up will be—” Before she could say something harsh, she saw Lu Li raise the stick again and instinctively changed her warning out of fear: “cursed to be happy for a lifetime.”
“Thanks,” Lu Li said, discarding the branch and taking the note.
“You’ve cleared the level.”
The lady ghost spoke in a complex tone, sighed, and turned to walk toward the narrow passageway she had come from.
The backdrop was desolate and lonely.
“We’ve cleared it, we don’t have to live in fear anymore.”
The young man, who had been barely participating, took a deep breath and feigned surprise: “Eh?
There’s another room ahead.”
The door on the wall opened into pitch darkness, giving off a peculiar feeling.
“Maybe that’s the exit, let’s go check it out!”
The guy in the leather jacket mumbled what a typical doomed character would say, approaching the door and frequently looking back to hint at Lu Li to follow.
Lu Li placed the three notes he had obtained together and followed the young man through the door.
The room was pitch black with no light source.
In this situation, Lu Li lit the oil lamp.
The light from the oil lamp spread outwards and reflected back.
Lu Li stood still without taking a defensive stance.
This was a room filled with mirrors, rectangular mirrors covering the walls, and the blurred glass showed Lu Li’s figure and the light of the oil lamp from all angles.
Lu Li could also see the young man who had followed him.
But not ahead, instead, he was…
“Let me whisper a secret to you…”
The young man chuckled softly, his complexion turning pale, his face twisted and grotesque, the corners of his mouth split open, flesh spreading outwards, and a ghastly aura escaping, chillingly clinging behind Lu Li like a malevolent ghost and fiendishly laughing: “Actually…
“I’ll tell you a secret too,” Lu Li said, looking straight at the young man in the mirror.
He reached for his waist, flipped open his gun holster, and grasped the flintlock pistol.
The young man’s transformation halted, and he spoke earnestly: “…Really?”
“Genuine as it gets.”
“Why would an Exorcist use a gun…”
“It may look like a flintlock pistol on the surface, but it’s actually an Exorcism Gun,” Lu Li said as he lifted the cover of the holster “One bullet at a time to deal with ghosts.”
The young man began to regress to his original human form, shrinking back with a crying tone: “…Would you forgive me if I apologized to you?”
Lu Li turned around, raising the muzzle of the gun: “I’ll count to three, run and I shoot.”
The young man who was backing away didn’t think twice and turned to flee.
His plan was a good one, even if he couldn’t escape, he could at least beg before the countdown…
A flat voice came from behind, followed closely by the sound of a gunshot.
The Ghost House, a secret room.
In the dim light, four ghostly figures gathered, secretly peering into everything happening in the mirror room.
There was silence for a while, which was suddenly broken when a gunshot erupted, stirring a commotion in the room.
“He’s here to catch us!”
“We’ve been discovered…
we’ve been discovered…”
“Are we going to be scattered!”
Crying, banging of tables and chairs, and shouting all mixed together, the four ghosts were panicked and filled with despair.